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Health department confirms 15th measles case in Minn.

The Minnesota Department of Health has confirmed a 15th case of measles.

Public health officials are contacting people who shared flights with a Minnesota woman in her 20s who developed measles after returning from a trip to India.

Measles is extremely contagious, but State epidemiologist Ruth Lynfield says exposure to an infected person on an airplane doesn't usually lead to a widespread outbreak.

"Typically, it leads to very few additional cases because in the general population immunity is quite high," Lynfield said.

Most of the previous cases were linked to a Somali child who got infected in Kenya. One other case was traced to Florida.

The Health Department says cases have ranged in age from 4 months to 51 years old. At least eleven of the individuals were not vaccinated; some were too young to receive the vaccine. The vaccine status of three others is unknown and one person had been vaccinated.